So how'd it go???

Short answer: I feel really good about the interviews.

Long answer: Read about it here.

Wednesday mid-day I got a call from the supervisor (Director of Leads Research) for the department I'm interviewing. He was calling "just to make sure that you know you're giving a presentation tomorrow." News to me! Luckily I don't mind presenting, and on the plane I put together some slides--what would normally be about 20 minutes' worth--about the Halo project. (Honestly, would anyone expect me to present on something different?) Landed at LAX, picked up the rental car they had arranged for me, and headed out to the hotel.

Thursday morning I leave 50 minutes to travel what they said takes approximately 14 minutes but to leave 30 for traffic. Anyway, I get there just in the nick of time...only to find they've changed my schedule and added another interview before my first one at 9:00. Well, that person was still on his way in, so I was able to start filling out the paperwork (by no means finish though).

The interviews were interesting. Most were one-on-one, but a few were two-on-one (me, of course, being the one). I was whisked from one office to the next, back to back, every 30-45 minutes meeting someone new. By noon I had met all six people on the team I'd be joining (Leads Research) and also someone on Leads Development and someone else in Materials.

Around 12:30 the Director and I went down to the cafeteria, got lunch, and brought it back to his office to continue conversation over the meal. St. Jude has a "Wall of Patents" near their cafeteria...very cool!

Interviewed back-to-back with two different Vice Presidents of various research divisions, then I got about a 3 minute break. It was time to present, and the conference room populated with faces that I had met earlier in the day. My "20-minute" presentation filled the entire hour that was on the schedule because they all asked good questions. After that, I had another talk with the Director, then squeezed in two more interviews with people in Quality Assurance and Emerging Indications. At the end of the day I finally filled out the paperwork for HR. It was a long, busy, fast-moving day.

The whole process was a lot of fun. I got to talk a lot about myself, my work, and my thought processes. Only two interviewers the whole day "quizzed" me on technical facts; most of the discussion was centered around what I do, how I think, and how I interact with others. I also learned a lot about the structure of this division, namely the differences between the various different research areas, research vs. development (yes, R&D can be separated), and project workflow.

I feel that it went well. I think I "fit" there, and I hope that they felt the same. Dinner with some friends afterward was a great way to wind down, since I was able to hear about life in Cali outside St. Jude.

So I'll keep the blog "posted" if and when I hear anything else. Thanks to all you well-wishers!